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Rh books of Confucius; and nothing is looked upon as learning in China which does not emanate from this authorized and infallible source.

In addition to their classical writings, they have a number of works of high antiquity and great estimation, such as the Chow-le and E-le, supposed to have been written by Chow-kung, eleven hundred years before Christ; and treating of the ceremonies of marriage, funerals, visiting, feasting, &c., the Kea-yu, or "sayings of Confucius," ascribed to his grandson, Tsze-sze; the Heaou king, treating of filial piety; the Yew-hëŏ, and Seaou-hëŏ, intended for young persons; together with the writings of later philosophers, celebrated both for their elegant style and orthodox sentiments. The Koo-wăn, or "specimens of ancient literature," contains extracts from their most celebrated authors, and is highly prized and commonly read in China. In addition to these philosophical writings, they have very voluminous works on history and biography, together with piles of poems, in which the genius of Chinese versifiers has been displayed, from the days of Wăn-wang to the present age. The departments of philology and philosophy, natural history and botany, medicine and jurisprudence, have been attended to by numerous authors; and though much improvement has not been made, of late years, yet the early advancement made in these studies is creditable to the genius of ancient China.

Besides the writers in the orthodox school, there have been a great number of authors, advocating the system of Laou-keun and Buddha. The Taou-tĭh-king, composed by the former, is coeval with the books of Confucius, and nearly as much esteemed by the